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Star Wars: The Phantom Menace
Guest Review by Guy Martin
Guy's Website:Guy's World


This afternoon I saw George Lucas' latest addition to his Star Wars films, Episode One: The Phantom Menace. To call this film highly anticipated is obviously an understatement. And any film this anticipated is sure to dissapoint at least a little bit. The Phantom Menace is no different. The film is better than the last installment, Episode Six: The Return of the Jedi, but shares many of that film's faults. While unassailible technically, The Phantom Menace lacks the tight plotting and solid storytelling of either Episode Four: A New Hope or Episode Five: The Empire Strikes Back. But Lucas' greatest problem may be that his core audience has simply grown up. Lucas' biggest enemies are no longer the dreaded studio bosses, but two former comic-book artists from Minnesota.

The Phantom Menace plays out with much of the same film form as its predecessors. The movie begins with the traditional "A Long Time Ago in a Galaxy Far Far Away" followed by the standard opening crawl explaining some plot background. The film uses numerous wipes and dissolves like the original films. And there are the bits borrowed from classic films, such as a hgih speed space-chariot race (called a "pod race") that recalls Ben-Hur. Though now Lucas includes bits of more contemporary films as well (the climax borrows from Tim Burton's Batman and the planet of Corusant seems to be a sunnier version of the city from Ridley Scott's Blade Runner). Production design remains a big strength of the series here though. The sights are spectacular, ranging from massive droid armies in green fields (which seem to come from Stanely Kubrick's Spartacus come to think of it) to the undersea Gundan city.

Of course this time around said images are conjured up mostly by computer, instead of the models and matte paintings of the earlier films. And the film is a technological triumph for Lucas' Industrial Light and Magic (ILM). The effects supervised by old hand Dennis Murren, one of the few remaining at ILM who worked on the original Star Wars, and his fellow supervisors Scott Squires and John Knoll, both younger guns raised in ILM's digital age, have pulled off Lucas' concept of the "digital backlot". Sets, props, creatures, even actors have been computer-created with new levels of realism.

Unfortunatley film's script, by Lucas, fails to provide a sturdy enough backbone for all the sights and sounds. The trouble begins when the opening crawl describes a tax dispute. That's right no evil bad guys with a death star, no dark villian obsessed with finding young skywalker, but instead a tax dispute. It seems said tax dispute has lead the Trade Federation (whose member all seem to sound vaguely Japanese. hmmm) to blockade the planet of Naboo. The senate of the galactic republic has dispatched Jedi Knight Qui-gon Jinn (Liam Neeson) and his apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan MacGregor). After a most unfriendly reception on board the trade federation ship the two good guys head for the planet below where the blockade has turned into a full-scale invasion with droid-carrying tanks and hovercraft. There Qui Gon saves Gundan Jar Jar Binks (voice of Ahmed Best) who becomes permanently attached to the two. With Jar Jar's help they contact Gundan leader Boss Nass, make an aquatic trip into the Naboo palace and rescue Queen Amidala (Natalie Portman). The Queen wants to go to Coruscant and seek help from the senate. Unfortunately our heros' ship is damaged, necessitating a stop on the familiar desert world of Tatooine, where they encounter Anakin Skywalker (Jake Lloyd) and some familiar droids. Qui-gon is soon conviced that Anakin is the "one who will bring balance to the force". so it's off to Coruscant where the Queen finds the Republic mired in bureacracy while Qui-gon finds himself at odds with the Jedi Council, led by Yoda (puppeteered and voiced by Frank Oz). Then all our heros return to Naboo to liberate the planet. The Phantom Menace of the title is the Sith, the dark-side equivalent of the Jedi. The sith, as represented by Darth Sidious (Ian McDiarmid, who also portrays Naboo's senator Palpatine) and his apprentice Darth Maul (Ray Park) are pulling the strings of the trade federation and want to conquer Naboo for some unknown reason. Darth Maul seems to do the dirty work; It is he who is dispatched to find the Queen on Tatooine (it seems the trade federation needs her to sign a treaty handing Naboo over to them). As one can see the plot is quite a bit more complex than that of the earlier films. There's an awful lot of political wrangling that frankly isn't terribly involving. The Battles come quickly at the begining, then they seem to stop until the very end, which frankly is nearly as suspensful or spectacular as the similar space-battle finale in the original (which creates a problem when Lucas tries to generate suspense by cross-cutting, DW Griffith-style, between the fighter battle in the stars and the lightsaber duel on the planet below. The duel is intense and exciting, the battle drags). And some of the set pieces, especially the aforementioned pod race, seem to serve merely as an opportunity for the technical wizards at ILM to show off. The plot also creates several major continuity errors with the rest of the series (here Qui-gon is Obi Wan's master, yet in The Empire Strikes back Obi Wan refers to Yoda as the one who trained him. Also if 3P0 was built on Tatooine, how come he doesn't recognize the planet in A New Hope, or even mention that it's where he was built?).

Some of the characters also fail to interest. Jar Jar's clumsy antics quickly grow tiresome. Not to mention he speaks in an accent that sounds like a slurred Jamacian, making some of his lines indecipherable (although given some of the decipherable ones I'm of the opinion that it was no big loss). Familiar Droids R2D2 and C-3P0 make appearances, but there's no attempt to develope them since everyone is already familar with them. Also their total screen time is about ten minutes so they seem to be here only for cameo purposes. But the biggest lost opportunity is Darth Maul. His physical design is truly menacing (he posseses a red and black face and horns and carries a double-ended light saber), but he says virtually nothing during the film (and his few lines don't include the wonderful "fear" speech used in the film's ads). The bulk of his action doesn't come until the end where he seems thrown in only as an excuse for our heros to engage in a major lightsaber duel. Perhaps Lucas was trying to create a set of Hitchcock like doubles between Sidous and Maul and Qui-gon and Obi Wan, but if so he fails. Sidous is, appropriately since he really is the Phantom Menace, too little a presence in the film to make much difference. He's mostly seen via hologram. For that matter Obi Wan doesn't have much to do except follow Qui-gon around most of the movie and occaisionally helps duel some droids. At least he has lines though. Anakin also seems a lost opportunity. The accusations that Lloyd can't act are false. For a child actor he's quite good, but there are limits to what even he can do. The part just isn't as interesting as the future Darth Vader should be (the only hint that danger lies ahead is Yoda's refering to the child's future as "clouded").

Fortunately not all the characters are duds. Qui-gon, who carries the hero role for much of the film is well-played by Neeson. Oz' Yoda remains interesting, and it's nice to see an old-fashioned puppet amongst all the computer-created characters. Portman is also excellent in the double role of the Queen and her bodyguard. And McDiarmid fares well in both his roles, especially as Palpatine, who may be more than he seems. Of the computer creations Wattoo, the junk dealer, is the funniest and most involving with honorable mention going to Sebulba, Ankin's racing nemesis.

Part of Lucas' problem is that while this is ostensibly the first part of Star Wars, he has already made the entire second half. The audience know what will happen. Anakin will become Darth Vader, Palpatine will take control of the senate and become the emperor, Obi-Wan will die at the hands of Vader. The Auduence also know many characters already as well, such as Obi-Wan, 3P0, R2D2, and Palpatine. Thus Lucas is spared having to introduce them, but this also weakens the narrative. The other major problem is dialogue. Of course the original film wasn't exactly shakespeare, but at least the dialog seemed part of its B-movie charm and sweetness. Now with all the incredible production values the seriously bad dialogue seems very out of place. Without collaborator Lawrence Kasdan (the writer and director of The Big Chill), who helped fix the dialogue for Empire and Jedi, Lucas is left to his own tin ears. Shimi Skywalker (Pernilla August), Anakin's Mother, gets some real stinkers like "He was meant to help you" and "You will bring hope to many". Plus some of he most-hyped lines from the trailer turn out to be taken so out-of-context that they aren't nearly as inspiring.

What ultimately saves the film from it's own script is Lucas' directing. He seems very sure of himself, and manages to keep the overly complex plot moving along. Unlike the late Richard Marquand who floundered when given a similarly troubled script in Return of the Jedi, Lucas manages to find the life missing in his own script. He still hasn't lost his sense of spectacle, and he does a reasonable job at keeping his actors on the job (although he lacks the skill with performers that veteran Irvin Kershner brought to Empire). And from a technical standpoint he proves he's still in the game with James Cameron (founder of ILM's main competitor Digital Domain and director of Titanic, the film that many a pundit has predicted will loose its box-office crown to The Phantom Menace), although occaisionally one gets the sense of watching a Pixar film that happens to include a few real people. And he still can stage quite a lightsaber duel.

Yet Star Wars has never been about having a particularly great story or great dialogue, or even acting. It has been about having a good old time at the theater and enjoying oneself. One that alone The Phantom Menace is a big success (although less so than the original or Empire, but several notches above Jedi). So why do I and others now deride Lucas for such omissions? I think the problem is that Lucas' core audience has grown up and perhaps is looking for something a bit more serious. At the very least it seems that something darker and more sinister than the extra-happy Phantom Menace. Take the current trend in many an online forum of hailing the much darker, more sinister Empire as by far the best of the original triology while deriding the prozac-happy Jedi as by far the worst (an assement I must admit I agree with). More importantly take the sucess of The Matrix, a film which reconstitutes the Star Wars formula with a slightly darker feel. The Matrix is the love child of the Wachowski brothers (Andy and Larry) two former comic book artists from Minnesota. Much like Lucas the draw on the simplfied good-vs-evil world of comics and old movie serials. They also throw in some new-age spirituality (like Anakin, Neo, The Matrix' hero may be a prophesized messaih), a couple of references to other films (True Lies, Blade Runner, and pretty much any John Woo films with Chow Yun-Fat waering shades and using two guns at once). Like the original Star Wars, The Matrix was relatively cheap ($60million). More importantly, like the original Star Wars The Matrix is the first in a series (yes, it is widely reported that The Matirx is the first part of, get this, a trilogy of films). Yet the world of The Matrix is far darker than Star Wars, not to mention R-rated. It also has some slightly better acting (mostly from Lawrence Fishburne). So far the Matrix has attracted a large following to the tune of around $130million at the box-office (which is what The Phantom Menace will probably make over the first five days alone). Lucas' audience wants more Matirx, less Jedi. For that matter, Titanic, for all it's script faults at least seem to deal with more adult problems and situations. Lucas meanwhile has again produced a fine piece of entertainment for the younger crowd. Unfortunatley in so doing he has likely alienated the original Star Wars generation who have, horror of horrors, grown up (although maybe he's just holding back. Just based on their titles, Episode II: The Rise of the Empire and Episode III: The Fall of the Jedi, should be much darker).

Still the Phantom Menace is clearly a Star Wars film. It has all the recognizable traits: the opening crawl, the wipes and dissolves, the corny dialogue, the breakthrough special effects. And it's a pretty good one at that, although not near the level of the original, or Empire. The plot is too complicated for Star Wars. Jar Jar is too juvenile. But the direction is solid and the effects and production design are stunning. The Phantom Menace does not live up to its hype (and there's really no way it could have), but it's no Godzilla either.